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| Updated 27/1/2003 |
Unfortunately, the title of Technical Director is incredibly vague, so I'll take the time here to describe what I consider to be my role as a TD.
Basically, the TD is the person who everyone turns to for an answer when difficulties arise in getting 3D animation work completed. TDs are expected to have an intimate knowledge of all the software being used, and be able to come up with solutions when people get stuck.
When a new job comes in, a bunch of people (often a CGI supervisor, a producer and a TD or two) get together to work out just how the job is going to get completed. Usually a bunch of the work is pretty straighforward and is easily assigned to animators, texture artists, matchmovers, etc. But a certain percentage of the work (and the more 'cutting-edge' the facility, the bigger the percentage) will require some experimentation, research and possibly the development of new tools in order to get it done. It is up to the TD to either establish a method using existing tools or instigate the development of new tools (often writing them him or herself).
TDs usually take on those aspects of the work that are too technical (or tedious) for your average animator to want to tackle themselves. This is usually things such as character rigging, crowd shots, cloth, fur, particles, dynamics and procedural animation. With the increasingly complex rendering methods available these days (Image Based Lighting, Global Illumination, Ambient Occlusion, Caustics, etc) the task of look development has become a lot more complex too, so TDs are often responsible for lighting and shading setup.
Good question. All the TDs I know come from completely different backgrounds. I personally went to uni to get my piece of paper with 'Bachelor of Science in Computing Science' written on it. I then went on to work as an R&D; Software Developer for Animal Logic where I learnt the ins and outs of working for a production company, whilst also honing my 3D skills in my spare time. After 3 years there I moved on to be a TD with Framestore CFC in London.
If you have a good mix of technical and creative skills, and are somehow involved in the visual effects industry, then you should be able to work your way into a TD position given time - if that's what you want to be doing. If you start off in a creative position, then your technical skills will soon be noticed and appreciated, and vice versa if you start off in a purely technical role (as I did). This mix of technical/creative is a fairly rare combination, so if you have it and are interested in this kind of role, then you should be in pretty good demand in the visual effects industry.
Here's a list of some good books that I think every TD should read and absorb - though some can certainly be left out if you're not interested in a particular area of course: